ESP of the Year 2023

Each year we award a few of our most deserving Education Support Professionals for acting as outstanding resources to teachers and students. We thank our Education Support Professionals for their excellent work this year. Here are the ESPs of the year:

Emma “Susana” Murphy – Amelia Earhart, Health Clerk

Susana goes above and beyond for the students at Amelia. She is kind, caring, and always smiling. She makes students feel safe and welcome. Susana also works calmly and kindly with students with severe behaviors. She makes everyone around her happy, and we are so grateful that she works with Amelia.

Brooklyn Powell Gregrich – Canyon Crest, Head Custodian

Brooklyn is consistent, thorough, and dedicated. She keeps Canyon Crest functioning, in good order, and clean. She is always willing to help out, even with non-custodial needs – she is a team player!

Mike Judd – District Bus Driver

Mike drives the bus for our students with disabilities. He knows each student by name, sees the whole student, and enjoys the work he provides. He is kind and friendly and brings joy to his work by joking with the students. Mike is awesome, and he is an amazing bus driver.

Capri Jenkins – Dixon Middle School, Child Nutrition Manager

Capri has successfully added her strengths to turn an already effective cafeteria team into an even more effective and streamlined team. She has brought ideas and innovations that have been a hit for the students. She has created a place where her employees want to stay, and students want to eat lunch.

Yazmin Jones – eSchool Secretary

Yazmin is invaluable to eSchool with her knowledge and understanding of the programs, curricula, and ability to deal with all stakeholders. Yazmin collaborates exceptionally with the eSchool team, counselors, parents, and students. Yazmin is helpful and friendly, and her work ethic is beyond reproach.

Debbie Gause – Franklin Elementary Para-Professional

Debbie truly cares about all of the students at Franklin and is always pushing them to success. She is wonderful to work with and always keeps the teachers informed about what is happening in her groups. She has high expectations for all students and is very empathetic and able to identify needs rapidly and effectively.

Sharri Brown – Independence High School Registrar

Sharri tirelessly maintains integrity, efficiency, and detail in her work. Sharri is highly organized, and this skill is vital to maintaining proper graduation records and ensuring students get credit for the hard work they have been doing. Sharri has creative ways of doing things and has incentivized teachers to ensure they click “the button” when validating grades.

Olivia Carter – Lakeview Elementary Librarian

Olivia is the heart of Lakeview. She teaches all 700 Lakeview students every week. She takes this job very seriously and carefully prepares her lessons. She is creative and imaginative and makes amazing displays every month to spark interest in reading. Olivia is incredibly kind and brave and has provided extensive support in our efforts to get students reading more.

Adriana “Nessa” Costa – Administrative Secretary, Provo Adult Education

Nessa is a graduate of our program, so she can share her personal success story with prospective or discouraged students. She exemplifies the kind of person we want our students to graduate and become. She is a wonderful support to both staff and students. She goes above and beyond and is a great asset to us!

Gloria Valgardson – Attendance Secretary, Provo High School

Gloria works diligently to keep up with the constant phone calls, emails, and other demands from parents excusing their students, checking out their students, or learning the attendance process for their students. She is always happy and pleasant with the community and staff. We are so glad to have her here.

Raquel Macias Del Valle – EL Instructional Assistant, Provo Peaks Elementary

Raquel truly cares about the students and is passionate about their development, both with their language and their social skills. Raquel takes extra time to provide training to teachers and instructional assistants. She has initiated a new parent class to help parents engage in learning English and working with their student’s teachers. Raquel is phenomenal to work with, and we’re truly lucky to have her at Provo Peaks.

Lindsey Neiser – Special Ed Instructional Assistant at Provost

For years, Mrs. Neiser has been a consistent, strong, and dependable instructional assistant for our special education students. She knows each of her students incredibly well, and her care and dedication to them show her daily patience and persistence in ensuring all her students are learning. She is an utmost professional, which makes it easy for teachers and staff alike to work with her.

Letty Meibos – Librarian, Rock Canyon Elementary

Letty works extremely hard as the Rock Canyon Librarian. She is motivated, dedicated, and always striving to provide an uplifting environment. Letty is a great role model, mentor, and example for our students. Letty truly wants to see all students succeed and creates a safe, encouraging, uplifting, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all students who come through her library.

Sydney Sellers – Kindergarten Instructional Assistant, Spring Creek Elementary

As an aide at Spring Creek for two years, Sydney embraces challenges and goes the extra mile in all that she does. She helps support other paras in their responsibilities and takes them under her wing when they are new. She individually supports students in her classroom who are new to the country, need extra assistance, or need encouragement. Sydney’s positive influence and work at Spring Creek make a world of difference.

Amanda Campos – Technology Specialist, Sunset View Elementary

Amanda has gone above in her first year. She researched programs and apps, created materials for the coding program, taught herself the different software, and fine-tuned the instructional how-to aspects of these programs so students could successfully learn. She motivates the students to perform to their best abilities. She is the best computer specialist I’ve ever seen, and we are SO lucky to have her here at Sunset View!

Elizabeth Steimie – 504 Aide, Timpview High School

Elizabeth is a dedicated professional who does much for our students at Timpview High. She is skilled at ensuring the student/s whom she is assigned is learning the lesson the general education teacher is presenting. She knows how to prompt and help when needed. She knows her students, and she connects well with them each day.

Tonja Roberts – Head Secretary, Wasatch Elementary

Pure awesomeness. Tonja is an essential member of our Admin Team and a key contributor to keeping Wasatch moving forward daily. Every morning, Tonja records the day’s announcement, which is a masterpiece! She sings, wishes happy birthdays, talks up the school lunch, and even teaches a new word each day. The kids love hearing Mrs. Bob over the intercom and interacting with her in the office!

Jennifer Ormsby – PE Specialist, Westridge Elementary

Coach O cares for the underdog. She has used her resources to help students who struggle with PE. She has brought in the Adaptive PE Instructor to help the students with special needs, who are now thriving. She supports and connects with students who feel left out. She creates a bond with individual students, which is hard when you have most of the school. Coach O is an amazing person and teacher!

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